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Safety

TEAM SAFETY

All team members involved in lab procedures were required to adhere to certain lab guidelines as outlined by our advisors. The lab safety rules include but are not limited to:

Wash in, wash out
Protect eyes, mucous membranes, open cuts and wounds from contact with biohazard material
Do not eat or drink when in the lab area
Use gloves, goggles masks as necessary
Tie back loose hair
Disinfect all surfaces with 70% ethanol prior to working
Disinfect all disposable tips, glassware, tubes by soaking in 10% bleach solution for 20 minutes and then disposing in normal waste
Dispose of growth plates by disposing into a biohazard container which get autoclaved
Check all equipment for good working order, no chips, torn cords, cracks. Report any issues to an instructor immediately.
When pipetting don’t touch tip to side of container
Don’t lay caps of tubes upside down. Use masking tape to hold to bottom of cabinets
Clean work area with 70% ethanol after working
Clean up all glassware and lab ware before leaving lab
Place all backpacks and stools to the side of the lab to keep walkways clear
Always know the correct procedure for disposal of lab materials

PUBLIC SAFETY

We took certain measures to ensure that our project did not pose a threat to public safety. All organisms handled were non-pathogenic, and are unlikely to survive in the wild even if released. All biomaterials were disposed of properly and all relevant lab equipment was autoclaved after use. Team members were not allowed outside of the lab while wearing gloves and refrained from touching doorknobs or any surfaces that would come in contact with the public. We cleaned all lab surfaces after use to ensure that others did not come in contact with our biomaterials.

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY

To ensure that our project did not propose a hazard to the environment, we used only transformation strains that were purchased through New England Biolabs. Our project aim is to produce a cell line of E. coli that can be used to convert chitin from shrimp shell waste to chitosan. This process currently is completed via strong Acids and Bases. Our cells would be contained in bioreactors, much like a water treatment plant. We plan to engineer them with a kill switch designed by 2013 Carnegie-Mellon, Killer Red. This switch would kill the cells when they were exposed to photo light. They would not pose a threat to the environment being as they are non pathogenic.